NAU Golf Ends 2019 Fall Season at Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown

RESULTS
TEAM LEADERBOARD
PLAYER LEADERBOARD

BOULDER CITY, Nev. (October 29, 2019) - Northern Arizona's women's golf program closed out its 2019 fall season on Tuesday afternoon at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown hosted by UNLV in Boulder City, Nev. The three day, 54-hole, tournament was played at the Boulder Creek Golf Club.

NAU ended the tournament in a three-way tie for 13th-place with Big Sky Conference rival Portland State and Northern Illinois. The 'Jacks shot for 5-over as a team for a total tally of 915. Host UNLV won the team title at the Showdown at 15-over (879), with San Francisco (+23, 887) and Long Beach State (+24, 888) rounding out the top three.

The Lumberjacks were on-par as a squad during the final round putting up a score of just 288. A rocky start to the tournament was seen in the first round for NAU, as the 'Jacks in last place off of a 322 tally. Rounds two and three went much better for NAU as they climbed up from 18th-place to 13th. 

Sophomore Aleksandra Chekalina led the Lumberjacks as she tied for 11th-place on the player leaderboard. In the third round Chekalina was three-under (69) and hit four birdies on the back-nine. This would be Chekalina's second highest finish of the 2019 fall season. 

True freshman Alyza Flores was not far behind Chekalina as she ended the tournament in a tie for 28th-place at 10-over (226). This would be Flores best performance of the 2019 fall season and her highest finish on the player leaderboard. She also tied her lowest round of her collegiate career as she was on-par (E, 72) in the final round.

NAU's next best golfer throughout the tournament would be fellow sophomore Ashley Croft. Croft tied for 70th-place at 19-over (235). A costly first round that saw her shoot for career high of 15-over (87). In the second round she was just one-over (73) and in the third round she was three-over (75) allowing her to bounce back. Senior Emma Reyes took just one more stroke to complete the course than Croft as she ended in 74th-place at 20-over (236). 

Another true freshman, Lorel Hayward, would round out the scoring for the 'Jacks in just her second career showing. Hayward took 94th-place at 32-over (248). Her best round came during the final round as well as she was seven-over (79).

During the 2019 fall season NAU saw golfers land in the top-15 on the player leaderboard six times. Four of those times the Lumberjacks cracked the top-10. At the Hobble Creek Fall Classic (3rd-place, +28, 880) and NM State Aggie Invitational (4th-place, +32, 896) NAU finished in the top-five in team scoring.  

The Lumberjacks will return for the 2019 spring season on Feb. 17-18 as the program heads back to Nevada for the Rebel Beach Intercollegiate tournament hosted by UNLV in Las Vegas. For now the 'Jacks will rest up and get ready for a new year in 2020.

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